Upload
others
View
3
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
SPACE, TIME, AND (how they) MATTER:
A Discussion of Some Metaphysical Insights about the Nature of Space
and Time Provided by Our Best Fundamental Physical Theories
Valia Allori
Northern Illinois University
Forthcoming in: J. Statchel, G.C. Ghirardi (eds.). Space, Time, and Frontiers of Human Understanding.
Springer-Verlag
Abstract
This paper is a brief (and hopelessly incomplete) non-standard introduction to the philosophy of space and
time. It is an introduction because I plan to give an overview of what I consider some of the main questions
about space and time: Is space a substance over and above matter? How many dimensions does it have? Is
space-time fundamental or emergent? Does time have a direction? Does time even exist? Nonetheless, this
introduction is not standard because I conclude the discussion by presenting the material with an original
spin, guided by a particular understanding of fundamental physical theories, the so-called primitive
ontology approach.
1. Introduction
Scientific realists believe that our best scientific theories could be used as reliable guides
to understand what the world is like. First, they tell us about the nature of matter: for
instance, matter can be made of particles, or two-dimensional strings, or continuous
fields. In addition, whatever matter fundamentally is, it seems there is matter in space,
which moves in time. The topic of this paper is what our best physical theories tell us
about the nature of space and time.
I will start in the next section with the traditional debate concerning the question
of whether space is itself a substance or not. Section 3 is focused instead on the question
of the dimensionality of space in light of string theory and quantum mechanics. I will
then continue in Section 4 explaining how quantum gravity may suggest that space and
time are not fundamental but emergent. In section 5, I discuss whether physical theories
successfully suggest the passage of time is illusory, and whether change does not exist. I
conclude the discussion illustrating how the primitive ontology approach to fundamental
physical theory can shed some new light on to the issues discussed.
2. Is Space a Substance?
Material things seems to be arranged in space, but is that true? There are two positions:
either there is space, and objects are arranged within it; or there is no space over and
above the spatial relations between the objects. The first position, known as
substantivalism, was first suggested by Newton and was heavily criticized by Leibniz.
According to Leibniz, there is no absolute ‘here’ or ‘there,’ ‘now’ or ‘then;’ rather there
are just spatial and temporal relations between material objects. This view is known as
relationism: all motion is relative motion.
2.1. Arguments for Substantivalism
Newton’s suggestion is that space and time are absolute, immutable quantities which
provide the fundamental arena in which matter can exist and evolve. This view has been
developed in the framework of classical (or Newtonian) mechanics but can also be
generalized to other theories. Newton provided an argument, the bucket argument, to
show that only substantivalism is able to account for certain observations. Consider a
bucket of water hanged with a winded up rope. When the rope is let go and the bucket
starts to rotate, the water’s surface becomes concave. Why? The substantivalist’s response
is that it is accelerating with respect to absolute space. Instead, on the relationist view
there has to be a body with respect to which the water will rotate, and the problem is that
there is no such body: it cannot be the bucket itself (the water and the bucket are at rest
with one another at the end when the water is concave, but also at the beginning when
the water was not concave; the water was in motion relative to the bucket in the
intermediate state, yet the water was not concave); it cannot be motion with respect of
the walls of the room (“put the walls on wheels and spin them around a bucket of water,
and the water will not go concave” [Dasgupta 2015]).
2.2. Arguments against Substantivalism
Leibniz argued against substantivalism, suggesting that it is fundamentally problematic.
Leibniz observes that a ‘shifted’ world, a world just like ours except that all matter is
shifted in another place in absolute space without any change in the relations of one object
to another, will count as a different world for the substantivalist, even if the two worlds
do not differ in their fundamental properties. The same is true for a ‘boosted’ world, a
world just like ours except that all matter is drifting through space at uniform velocity.
Leibniz concludes that this is absurd because it violates either the principle of sufficient
reason or the principle of identity of indiscernibles, namely that God had a reason to
create the world exactly as it is, and that indiscernible possibilities are identical.
One can easily resist these arguments denying such principles are true, but there is a
stronger argument against substantivalism based on symmetries that generalizes to
theories other than Newtonian mechanics, as we will see. Translations and rotations are
symmetry of shape: they are transformations that leave the shape of an object the same.
Similarly, it is argued that symmetries of a law are transformations that preserve that law.
In classical mechanics, shifts and boosts are symmetries: if w1 is a classical world, then a
world w2 shifted 5 feet to the left will also be classical; likewise, a boosted world w3. By
definition, F is an invariant feature of a law if any two worlds related by a symmetry of
the law agree on the values of F [Dasgupta 2015]. In classical mechanics, only relative (as
opposed to absolute) distances and velocities are invariant: w1, w2 and w3 are governed
by the same laws, regardless of their absolute position and absolute velocity. This
suggests that (all things being equal) invariant features are the only ones we should think
of as real: if F is not preserved in symmetries, then there are systematic ways to alter its
values and yet preserve the law. Tus, they ‘do not make any difference’ in the law, they
are redundant or irrelevant [North 2009], [Baker 2010]. In addition (or alternatively), non-
invariant features are by definition undetectable, and thus we do not have any reason to
believe they exist [Dasgupta 2015]. In both cases, substantivalism is in trouble since
according to her absolute position and velocity are real, even if they are not invariant.
There is consensus among substantivalists that the symmetry argument against
absolute velocity is compelling. Thus they endorse Galilean substantivalism, in which
absolute acceleration is defined without reference to absolute velocity. Like in Newtonian
substantivalism, bodies traveling in straight lines have no acceleration, but differently
from it, there is no fact of the matter about absolute velocities: a vertical straight trajectory
in space-time or a tilted one will not be different. A body is accelerating only if it has a
curved trajectory in space-time. The majority of substantivalists think that the symmetry
argument against absolute position instead does not work. ‘Sophisticated’
substantivalists (see e.g. [Butterfield 1989]) argue that they are not committed to maintain
that the shifted and the actual worlds are different, as claimed by the relationists (see
[Dasgupta 2015]).
The situation does not change much when we consider relativistic physics, in which
we move from space and time to space-time, combined into a unique manifold.
Therefore, space substantivalism arguably transforms into space-time (or manifold)
substantivalism, the doctrine that the manifold of events in space-time is a substance. The
basic idea of general relativity is that matter changes the geometry of space-time, curving
it. Therefore, a crucial element is the metric, which captures all the geometric structure of
space-time. The most famous (symmetry) argument against substantivalism in this
framework is the ‘hole’ argument [Stachel 1989], [Earman-Norton 1987]. Since there is no
privileged coordinate system (the so-called general covariance of general relativity), we
can ‘spread’ metric and matter in space-time in different ways without changing
invariant properties. For instance, we can have a ‘regular’ translation of matter and
metric, or we could have a ‘hole’ transformation: smoothly joined, we leave matter and
metric unchanged outside the hole, and we spread them differently inside. Since the two
distributions agree on all invariant features (i.e. on coordinate-independent properties
such as the distance along spatial curves), they arguably describe the same physical
situation. The problem is that according to manifold substantivalism they instead depict
two distinct physical situations, characterized by undetectable non-invariant properties.
The most popular response to the ‘hole’ argument is again sophisticated
substantivalism: one can regard these distributions as representing the same physical
possibility (see [Pooley 2013]). Another response is ‘metric essentialism:’ contrarily to
manifold substantivalism, points in space-time possess their relations essentially. That is,
the metric is, so to speak, part of the container [Maudlin 1990].
3. How Many Dimensions Does Space Have?
Another interesting question is what dimensions space (or space-time) has. In Newtonian
mechanics and relativity theory, matter is represented respectively by three-dimensional
entities evolving in time, or by four-dimensional ‘worms’ in space-time so it seems
obvious that space has three dimensions, and space-time four. The situation changes in
the framework of string theory and non-relativistic quantum mechanics.
3.1. Quantum Mechanics and Wave Function Realism
Classical mechanics dominated physics until the 20th century, when quantum mechanics
and relativity were proposed as more successful alternatives. To get a clear metaphysical
picture of the world out of quantum mechanics is notoriously difficult and controversial.
The problem is that if, as quantum mechanics states, the complete description of any
material object is provided by the so-called wave function, and the wave function evolves
in time according to the equation developed by Schrödinger, then objects may have
contradictory properties, like ‘being here’ and ‘being not here’ at the same time, which is
extremely problematic. Nonetheless, in the last century few better quantum theories have
been developed, most famously Bohmian mechanics [Bohm 1952], Everettian mechanics
[Everett 1957], and the GRW theory [GRW 1986]. Bohmian mechanics avoids the
inconsistencies of ‘orthodox’ quantum mechanics denying that the wave function
provides the complete description, Everettian mechanics that it’s problematic for objects
to have contradictory properties as long as they are instantiated in different words, and
the GRW theory denies that the wave function evolves according to the Schrödinger
equation.
3.2. An Argument for Wave Function Realism
Nevertheless, it is controversial what matter is made of. One possibility is ‘wave function
realism:’ the wave function represents matter in all the three theories above, even if they
differ by either adding something to the wave function (like Bohmian or Everettian
mechanics, which add particles and worlds), or modifying its dynamics. This view is
motivated by focusing on the dynamics [North 2013]: since in Newtonian mechanics the
fundamental equation described the temporal evolution of three-dimensional points,
then matter is made of point-particles in three-dimensional space. Similarly, since the
fundamental equation of quantum theory, Schrödinger’s equation, describes the
evolution of the wave function, whatever object the wave function mathematically
represents it is the fundamental constituent of matter, and space is whatever space the
wave function lives in [Albert 1996], [Lewis 2004], [Ney 2012]. This space, introduced in
the classical framework, is called ‘configuration space:’ the space of the configurations of
all the particles in the world (given that matter is made of wave function, there are
fundamentally particles, so the name ‘configuration’ should not be taken literally). Thus,
if there are N particles in the universe (estimated to be 1080), the dimension of
configuration space is 3N. If so, contrarily to what our everyday experiences suggest,
space is a very high dimensional space.
3.3. Arguments against Wave Function Realism
One problem for this view is that it cannot account for our experience of three-
dimensional objects [Monton 2002], [Maudlin 2007], [Allori 2013a]. One could argue that
they exist ‘functionally’ rather than fundamentally [Albert 1996]. The preliminary
problem here is that there are infinitely many functions from configuration space to three-
dimensional space, and to select a privileged one amounts to add an ontology, which the
wave function realist denies. Other proposals use symmetries [Ney forthcoming], or
grounding [North 2013]. These approaches are all work-in-progress, and the debate over
which is more promising is still open.
In addition, wave function realism may not be viable in the framework of quantum
field theories [Wallace-Timpson 2010], [Myrvold 2015]. A first problem is that the
definition of configuration space requires that the number of particles does not change in
time, contrarily to what happens in quantum field theories, in which particles are created
and annihilated. See most notably [Ney 2013] for a strategy to address this problem.
Furthermore, some question the motivation for the approach: wave function realism
prescribes that the world is very different from what we perceive it to be. Before accepting
such a revisionary metaphysic, one should rule out the existence of viable, less
counterintuitive alternatives. Since they exist (see Section 6), it is difficult to see the appeal
of wave function realism [Monton 2002], [Allori 2013b]. This is connected with the so-
called problem of empirical incoherence [Maudlin 2007]. Loosely speaking, a theory is
supported by observations when it predicts that objects have certain features, and these
features are actually observed. Since our observations are all observations of three-
dimensional objects (pointer pointing in certain directions in three-dimensional space), a
theory should make predictions about them. Wave function realism predicts instead that
there are no three-dimensional object, so it cannot be supported by observations. Wave
function realists (see e.g. [Ney 2015]) respond that they do not deny three-dimensional
object exists, rather they deny that they are fundamental, and accordingly they attempt
to provide an account of how they emerge from a deeper reality.
3.4. String Theory and Extra Dimensions
Quantum field theory, the first proposed extension of quantum mechanics in a relativistic
framework, is mathematically ill-defined. In order to overcome such difficulties, string
theory, among other theories, has been proposed. In this theory, matter is described by
one-dimensional objects called strings. On distances larger than the string scale, a string
looks just like an ordinary particle, with properties determined by the vibrational state of
the string. Since one of them corresponds to the graviton, a particle connected to gravity,
string theory promises to be a unified description of all the fundamental forces. There are
several versions of string theory, but for their mathematical consistency, they all require
extra dimensions of space-time: for instance, in ‘superstring’ theory space-time is ten-
dimensional. These extra dimensions are assumed to close up on themselves to form little
circles, so that they are not macroscopically observable, similarly to what happens when
we observe a garden hose from a distance and it appears to have only one dimension
instead of two (this is the so-called ‘compactification’). So, just like in the quantum
framework the dimensionality of space is not as it seems, but contrarily to the quantum
case in which the mappings from the high dimensional fundamental space to the
perceived three-dimensional are arbitrary, here the compactification mechanism is part
of the definition of the theory.
4. Is Space-Time Fundamental?
Many additionally have suggested that recent developments in quantum gravity, namely
the theories that attempt to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics, imply that
space-time is not fundamental but rather emergent.
4.1. Arguments for Emergence
As we saw, string theory was originally developed assuming a space-time background
(as inert container) but the so-called ‘dualities,’ suggested to some otherwise. As
symmetries relate possible physical description a given theory to one another, dualities
connect different types of strung theories. Two theories are said to be dual, roughly,
whenever they provide the same physics. There are various dualities. T-duality is a kind
of scale invariance. As we saw, the extra dimensions are compactified but different
theories have different compactification mechanisms. Suppose in a theory T1 a dimension
is wrapped around a circle of radius R. It turns out that, schematically, a theory T2 in
which the dimension is wrapped around a circle of radius 1/R is dual to T1. That is, the
transformation R l/R leaves the physics invariant. There is no difference between the
physics generated by T1, in which the space is ‘large,’ and by T2, in which the space is
‘small.’ Mirror symmetry is the generalization of T-duality: the extra dimensions can be
compactified so that they form a particular manifold (the Calabi-Yau manifold), which
turns out to be dual to a manifold with a different topology. Then we have S-duality,
which connects theories with different coupling constants (that is, the strength of the
interaction is different): a theory T1 with coupling constant g is dual to a theory T2 with
coupling constant 1/g. Another duality is the AdS/CFT (Anti-deSitter/Conformal Field
Theory) duality, which connects a string theory, which includes gravity and is defined in
ten dimensions on an Anti-deSitter space, with a quantum field theory, which does not
include gravity, and is defined in three dimensions on the boundary of the AdS space.
Some have argued that the metaphysical lesson we should draw from dualities is that
space-time is emergent. The idea is very similar to the symmetry arguments we discussed
previously, now applied at dualities: if T1 and T2 are dual, they are empirically
indistinguishable, and we cannot choose between them. Only invariant properties
describe something real: in the case of T-duality, for instance, there is no fact of the matter
about whether the space is ‘small’ or ‘large:’ space is not fundamental [Dawid 2013],
[Huggett-Wuthrich 2013], [Rickles 2013].
The ‘rival’ of string theory is quantum gravity, in which general relativity is
quantized. A particular type of quantization leads to canonical quantum gravity, newer
approaches include loop quantum gravity, in which, arguably, space can be viewed as an
extremely fine fabric or network of finite loops, called spin networks. The evolution of a
spin network over time is called a spin foam. The spin network can either persist, fuse or
split into several nodes, and “the resulting structure is taken to be the quantum analogue
of a four-dimensional space-time and is called ‘spin foam’”[Huggett Wuthrich 2013]. The
theory has not been completely developed but the idea is that the spin foam represents
what is fundamental, rather than space-time, and that the perceived three-dimensionality
thus have to suitably emerge from such structure.
4.2. Arguments against Emergence of Space-Time
The view according to which space-time suitably emerges from a deeper physics faces
very similar problems as wave function realism: first of all, how to account for the
appearance of three-dimensional objects evolving in time? Why should we believe the
theory? [Huggett-Wuthrich 2012] take on the challenges and sketch possible solutions.
The problem that seems to remain is about the motivation: given that there are
alternatives, why would one commit to such a radical metaphysical picture?
5. What about Time?
So far, we have focused our attention on space, leaving aside many issues regarding the
nature of time. I wish to outline just two connected questions, leaving aside many other
interesting debates, namely whether time passes and whether it has a direction.
5.1. Arguments against the Passage of Time
The ongoing debate in metaphysics about the nature of time is between those who believe
that the passage of time is objective, and those who believe that this is just an illusion.
Some have argued that in the framework of relativity, in which we go from space and
time to space-time, we should think of time just as another dimension of a bigger
fundamental space, and that the passage of time is just an illusion (see, e.g. [Goedel 1949]).
Others instead argue that it is perfectly coherent to believe that time passes in a relativistic
framework [Maudlin 2002a], [Zimmerman 2007].
In addition, there is a tension between microscopic laws and macroscopic behavior
[Albert 2000], [North 2012]. In fact, on the one hand all macroscopic behavior has a
natural temporal order: eggs break and do not un-break. On the other hand, the
microscopic laws that govern the macroscopic behavior (whether classical, relativistic or
quantum) are time-symmetric. That is, if a process is possible, then so is the process run
backwards. So, why is it possible for the molecules that constitute an egg to follow both
the trajectories corresponding to ‘the egg breaks’ and to ‘the egg un-breaks,’ while on the
macroscopic level we only see eggs that break? The problem is to explain where the law
that describes these macroscopic processes, the second law of thermodynamics according
to which entropy never decreases, is coming from. Arguably, the puzzle has been solved
in the framework of statistical mechanics by Boltzmann, in which it is overwhelmingly
likely for a process to develop towards maximal entropy, but it is possible that entropy
decreases. As such, eggs can un-break, it is just overwhelmingly unlikely to happen. In
order for the derivation to go through, many, including Boltzmann, believe that it is
necessary to assume the so-called ‘past hypothesis,’ the assumption that the universe
started out with an extremely low entropy. Critics of this strategy complain that this
condition calls for an explanation [Price 2004], since the probability of the universe
starting in the requisite state is astronomically small (see [Callender 2004] for a defense).
5.2. An arguments for the Unreality of Time
Similarly to the argument for the emergence of space-time, some have argued that
canonical quantum gravity, one of the contenders to unify general relativity and quantum
mechanics, suggests time does not exist. Canonical quantum gravity gives rise to the
Wheeler-de Witt equation for a universal wave function, the interpretation of which
seems to describe a static universe. How can this theory describe a world like ours in
which there is change? This is the so-called ‘problem of time’ (for a review, see [HVW
2012]). The possible reactions to this problem can be either endorse timelessness or to
attempt to quantize gravity in a different way. For the latter approach, see [Kuchar 1999].
The former path has been taken most notably by [Wheeler 1994], [Barbour 2001], [Earman
2002], [Rovelli, 2011]. In particular, Rovelli’s basic idea is that we can describe change
without time relating physical systems directly to one another.
5.3. Arguments against the Unreality of Time
Objections to this suggestion are of two sorts: some suggests that the lack of change in
the Wheeler-de Witt equation should not be taken metaphysically seriously, since it is an
artifact of framing the theory in terms of canonical variables [Maudlin 2002b] [Goldstein-
Teufel 2011]. Others have stressed that it is difficult to see how one can come to believe
in a theory in which time does not exist [Healey 2002]. As one can see, this is a variety of
the problem of empirical incoherence mentioned above.
6. A New Look into the Debates: Primitive Ontology
If the reader has remained with me up to this point, if we set aside the issues connected
with the direction of time, I hope she will be able to see a trend: on the one hand we have
the relationists, the wave function realists, the space-time emergentists, the antirealist
about time, which essentially resort to the intuition that if something is unobservable then
we have no reason to believe it is real; on the other hand we have the substantivalists, the
fundamentalists about space-time (i.e. the critics of wave function realism and of space-
time emergentism), and the realist about time that instead seem to appeal to the idea that
if something has an explanatory role then we have reason to believe that it exists, even if
it is not detectable. In fact, many prominent arguments for the former positions are based
on symmetries and invariant features: in classical mechanics, position and velocities are
not invariant, and therefore theory are not real; general relativity is covariant, therefore
space-time points are not real; since there are dualities connecting different string
theories, we have no reason to believe one theory over the other. These, fundamentally,
are all varieties of underdetermination arguments, and the opponents of these views
essentially reply that observability is not the only virtue a theory may possess:
explanatory power, in particular, should be taken into account.
The other arguments are slightly different: in quantum mechanics one needs
nothing more than the wave function in order to account for the experimental results;
general relativity suggests that space and time are part of the same continuum, so space
and time are not fundamentally different and time does not pass; in canonical quantum
gravity we have an equation that suggests that noting evolves in time, so time does not
exist. Nonetheless, I think there is still something in common with the previous
arguments: the wave function realist and the antirealist about time start off the bare
formalism of the theory (respectively quantum mechanics, general relativity and
canonical quantum gravity) in order to interpret it. In contrast, their opponents
emphasize that the ‘interpretation’ comes first, and the theory should follow: we make a
hypothesis about what the world is made of, and then we construct a mathematical
theory to describe it. In particular, the problems of the macro-object and of empirical
incoherence stem from this reflection: one theory should be able to account for what we
experience, they should be able to explain empirical data, and three-dimensional space
(or four-dimensional space-time) seems to be essential for that.
In this last section, I wish to briefly describe a unifying account of fundamental
physical theory that essentially captures the ideas just outlined: the primitive ontology
approach (for an updated version, see [Allori 2015]). The main idea is that fundamental
physical theories are about three-dimensional entities which evolve in time (the primitive
ontology). The prototype of a theory with primitive ontology is classical mechanics,
according to which macroscopic objects are composed of microscopic three-dimensional
point-particles, and the temporal evolution of such objects is determined by Newton’s
equation. The proponents of this view point out the macro object problem and the
problem of empirical coherence in quantum mechanics and quantum gravity as a
motivation for their view: that is, theories with a primitive ontology are explanatory
successful and empirically coherent, in contrast with their rival views. Because of these
reasons, they propose that not only Bohmian mechanics, but also GRW and Everettian
mechanics are actually theories about three-dimensional entities, may that be particles,
or continuous three-dimensional fields, or space-time events (‘flashes’) [AGTZ 2008,
2011]. The idea is that the wave function does not describe matter, in contrast to what the
wave function realist believe, but rather should be seen more like a nomological entity,
needed to implement the law of evolution for the primitive ontology. Similarly, in the
context of quantum gravity [Goldstein-Teufel 2011] dissolve the problem of time by
arguing that the metric is the primitive ontology of the theory, whose evolution is
governed by the wave function, which obeys to the Wheeler-de Witt equation. When
confronted by dualities in string theory, the primitive ontologist will similarly argue that
empirical adequacy and observability are not the only virtues a theory should have, and
that space-time and objects in it are essential to explain theory experiences. Finally, in the
context of the substantivalism-relationism debate, what does this approach have to say?
At least one thing: in classical mechanics position is fundamental, being the primitive
ontology, and symmetry arguments are completely ineffective in this context.
References
[Albert 2000] Albert, David Z.: Time and Chance. Harvard University Press (2000).
[Albert 2013] Albert, David Z.: Wave function realism. In D. Albert, A. Ney (eds.),
The Wave Function: Essays in the Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics: 52-57. Oxford
University Press (2013).
[Albert 1996] Albert, David Z.: Elementary Quantum Metaphysics. In J. Cushing,
A. Fine, and S. Goldstein (eds.), Bohmian Mechanics and Quantum Theory: An
Appraisal: 277-284. Kluwer (1996).
[Allori 2015] Allori, Valia: Primitive Ontology in a Nutshell. International Journal of
Quantum Foundations 1 (3): 107-122 (2015).
[Allori 2013a] Allori, Valia: On the Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics. In S.
Lebihan (ed.), Precis de la Philosophie de la Physique. Vuibert (2013).
[Allori 2013b] Allori, Valia: Primitive Ontology and the Structure of Fundamental
Physical Theories. In D. Albert, A. Ney (eds.), The Wave Function: Essays in the
Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics: 58-75. Oxford University Press (2013).
[AGTZ 2008] Allori, Valia, Sheldon Goldstein, Roderich Tumulka, Nino Zanghi,
N.: On the Common Structure of Bohmian Mechanics and the Ghirardi-Rimini-
Weber Theory. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 59 (3): 353-389
(2008).
[AGTZ 2011] Allori, Valia, Sheldon Goldstein, Roderich Tumulka, Nino Zanghi,
N.: Many-Worlds and Schrödinger’s First Quantum Theory. The British Journal
for the Philosophy of Science 62 (1), 1--27 (2011).
[Baker 2010] Baker, David: Symmetry and the Metaphysics of Physics. Philosophy
Compass 5: 1157-66 (2010).
[Barbour 2001] Barbour, Julian: The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics.
Oxfrord University Press (2001).
[Bohm 1952] Bohm, David: A Suggested Interpretation of the Quantum Theory in
Terms of "Hidden" Variables. II. Physical Review 85, 180 (1952).
[Butterfield 1989] Butterfield, Jeremy: The Hole Truth. The British Journal for the
Philosophy of Science 40: 1-28 (1989).
[Callender 2004] Callender, Craig: There is No Puzzle about the Low Entropy Past.
In C. Hitchcock (ed.), Contemporary Debates in the Philosophy of Science, Ch 12.
Blackwell (2004).
[Dasgupta 2015] Dasgupta, Shamik: Substantivalism vs Relationalism about Space
in Classical Physics. Philosophy Compass 10 (9): 601-624 (2015).
[Dawid 2013] Dawid, Richard: String Theory and the Scientific Method. Cambridge
University Press (2013).
[Earman 2002] Earman, John: Thoroughly Modern McTaggart: Or What
McTaggart would have said if he had Learned General Relativity. Philosophers'
Imprint 2 (3): 1-28 (2002).
[Goedel 1949] Godel, Kurt: A Remark about the Relationship between Relativity
Theory and the Idealistic Philosophy. In: P. Schilpp (ed.), Albert Einstein.
Philosopher-Scientist: 557-562. Open Court (1949).
[Earman-Norton 1987] Earman, John, John Norton: What Price Substantivalism?
The Hole Story. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 38: 515-25 (1987).
[Everett 1957] Everett, Hugh: Relative State Formulation of Quantum Mechanics,
Review of Modern Physics, 29: 454–462 (1957).
[GRW 1986] Ghirardi, Gian Carlo, Alberto Rimini, Tulio Weber: Unified Dynamics
for Microscopic and Macroscopic Systems. Physical Review D 34: 470–91 (1986).
[Goldstein-Teufel 2001] Goldstein, Sheldon, Stefan Teufel: Quantum Spacetime
without Observers: Ontological Clarity and the Conceptual Foundations of
Quantum Gravity. In C. Callender and N. Huggett (eds.) Physics meets Philosophy
at the Planck Scale: 275-289. Cambridge University Press (2001).
[Healey 2002] Healey, Richard (2002): Can Physics Coherently Deny the Reality of
Time?. In C. Callender (ed.), Time, Reality and Experience: 293–316. Cambridge
University Press (2002).
[HWW 2012] Huggett, Nick, Tiziana Vistarini, Christian Wuthrich: Time in
Quantum Gravity. In A. Bardon, H. Dyke (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to the
Philosophy of Time: 242-261. Blackwell (2012).
[Huggett-Wuthrich 2013] Huggett, Nick, Christian Wuthrich: Emergent Spacetime
and Empirical (In)coherence. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B:
Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 44 (3): 276–285 (2013).
[Lewis 2004] Lewis, Peter: Life in Configuration Space. The British Journal for the
Philosophy of Science 55 (4): 713-729 (2004).
[Maudlin 1990] Maudlin, Tim: Substances and Space-time: What Aristotle would
have said to Einstein. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 21: 531-561
(1990).
[Maudlin 2002a] Maudlin, Tim: Remarks on the Passing of Time. Proceedings of the
Aristotelian Society New Series 102: 259-274 (2002).
[Maudlin 2002b] Maudlin, Tim: Thoroughly Muddled McTaggart: Or how to
Abuse Gauge Freedom to Generate Metaphysical Monstrosities. Philosophers'
Imprint 2 (4): 1-13 (2002).
[Maudlin 2007] Maudlin, Tim: Completeness, Supervenience and Ontology.
Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical 40: 3151-3171 (2007).
[Monton 2002] Monton, Bradley: Wave Function Ontology. Synthese 130: 265–277
(2002).
[Myrvold 2015] Myrvold, Wayne: What is a Wave Function? Synthese 192 (10):
3247-3274 (2015).
[Ney 2012] Ney, Alyssa: The Status of Our Ordinary Three Dimensions in a
Quantum Universe. Nous 46(3): 525-60 (2012).
[Ney 2013] Ney, Alyssa: Introduction. In D. Albert, A. Ney (eds.), The Wave
Function: Essays in the Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics: 51-51. Oxford University
Press (2013).
[Ney 2015] Ney, Alyssa: Fundamental Physical Ontologies and the Constraint of
Empirical Coherence: a Defense of Wave Function Realism. Synthese 192 (10): 3105-
3124 (2015).
[Ney forthcoming] Ney, Alyssa: Finding the World in the Wave Function: Some
Strategies for Solving the Macro-Problem. Synthese (forthcoming).
[North 2009] North, Jill: The “Structure” of Physics: a Case Study. The Journal of
Philosophy 106: 57-88 (2009).
[North 2011] North, Jill: Time in Thermodynamics. In C. Callender (ed.), The
Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Time: 312–350. Oxford University Press (2011).
[North 2013] North, Jill: The Structure of a Quantum World. In D. Albert, A. Ney
(eds.), The Wave Function: Essays on the Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics: 184-202.
Oxford University Press (2013).
[Pooley 2013] Pooley, Oliver: Substantivalist and Relationalist Approaches to
Spacetime. In: R. Batterman (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Physics: 522-
586. Oxford University Press (2013)
[Price 2004] Price, Hugh: On the Origins of the Arrow of Time: Why There is Still
a Puzzle About the Low Entropy Past. In C. Hitchcock (ed.), Contemporary Debates
in the Philosophy of Science, Ch 12. Blackwell (2004).
[Rickles 2013] Rickles, Dean: Mirror Symmetry and Other Miracles in Superstring
Theory. Foundations of Physics, 43 (1), 54-80 (2013).
[Rovelli 2011] Rovelli, Carlo: Forget Time. Foundations of Physics 41: 1475-1490
(2011).
[Stachel 1989] Stachel, John: Einstein's Search for General Covariance. In D.
Howard, J. Stachel (eds.), Einstein and the History of General Relativity: 63-100.
Birkhäuser (1989).
[Zimmerman 2007] Zimmerman, Dean. In T. Sider, J. Hawthorn, D. Zimmerman
(eds.) Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics: 211-225. Blackwell (2007).
[Wallace-Timpson 2010] Wallace, David, Christopher Timpson: Quantum
Mechanics on Spacetime I: Spacetime State Realism. The British Journal for the
Philosophy of Science. 61(4): 697-727 (2010).
[Wheeler 1994] Wheeler, John A.: Time Today. In J. Halliwell, J. Perez-Mercader,
W. H. Zurek (eds.), Physical Origins of Time Asymmetry: 1-29. Cambridge University
Press (1994).